Spanish / Spain
La canción del pájaro toc
(The song of the toc bird)
Pintadera, Fran
(text)
Font, Anna
(illus.)
Barcelona: Akiara books, 2024. – [52] p.
(Series: Akipoeta. La belleza de los detalles; 7)
ISBN 978-84-18972-44-7
Bird | Freedom | Poetry | Picture book
Reading age: 9+
White Ravens issue: 2024
What is a toc bird like? Well, that is easy enough: it is a bird that goes toc. Other than that, a toc bird is a bird like any other. It is a creature that loves life and will waste away if locked in a cage. But it is also a creature whose catchy song always finds its way through the bars of the cage, a way to freedom. Fran Pintadera has written twenty poems about the toc bird. They are the reflections and conversations that a lyrical subject has with himself and others about the existential question of a free, self-determined life, whether as a bird or as a human being. The prose poems are reserved and quiet, but at the same time strong in their imagery, and powerful in their message. Anna Font’s colour illustrations are a perfect match for the verses, each of which is given plenty of space on a double-page spread. With simple, stylised shapes, only a few elements and an atmosphere that oscillates between sadness and hope, the pictures perfectly match the thoughtful tone of the texts. [JW]